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P247
(Garden in Sochi)
c. 1940–41
Oil on canvas
25 1/4 x 29 1/8 in. (64.1 x 74 cm)
Front not inscribed
Reverse not seen
Reverse not seen
Private collection, United States
Provenance
Private collection (February 1971)
Private collection, by descent (by 2020)
Private collection, United States (November 2021)
Exhibitions
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Arshile Gorky Memorial Exhibition, January 5–February 18, 1951, no. 25, p. 46, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1940. Traveled to: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, March 4–April 22, 1951; San Francisco Museum of Art, California, May 9–July 9, 1951.
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, Arshile Gorky: A Loan Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, October 6–26, 1952, no. 7, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1940.
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, 33 Paintings by Arshile Gorky, December 2–28, 1957. (Exhibition catalogue: Sidney Janis Gallery 1957), no. 6, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940.
XXXI Biennale di Venezia: Internazionale d'Arte, U.S. Pavilion, Venice, Italy, Arshile Gorky, June 16–October 7, 1962, no. 8, p. 113, as "Giardino a Sochi," dated c. 1940.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Arshile Gorky, 1904–1948, December 19, 1962–February 12, 1963. (Exhibition catalogue: Seitz 1962), no. 40, ill. in b/w, p. 26; p. 54, as "Garden in Sochi". Traveled to: Washington Gallery of Modern Art, D.C., March 12–April 14, 1963.
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Arshile Gorky, Paintings and Drawings / Arshile Gorky: Schilderijen en Tekeningen, 1965, no. 46, ill. in b/w, as "Tuin in Sochi / Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–1942. Traveled to: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, May 22–June 27, 1965; Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, July 24–September 5, 1965 (Museum Boymans van Beuingen 1965).
Arts Council of Great Britain, London (organizer), Tate Gallery, Arshile Gorky: Paintings and Drawings, April 2–May 2, 1965, no. 39, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Space and Dream, December 5–29, 1967, ill. in b/w, p. 51, as "Garden in Sochi" (not exhibited).
M. Knoedler & Co. Inc, New York, Gorky, de Kooning, Newman, June 26–September 20, 1969, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970, October 18, 1969–February 8, 1970. (Exhibition catalogue: Geldzahler 1969), no. 88, as "Garden in Sochi".
Galleria Galatea, Turin, Italy, Arshile Gorky, February 29–March 27, 1972, ill. in color, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940–42.
Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Lugano, Switzerland, Da Kandinsky a Pollock: la vertigine della non-forma / From Kandinsky to Pollock: the Vertigo of Non-form, September 29, 2001–January 6, 2002, no. 35, p. 76; ill. in color, p. 77; p. 188, as "Garden in Sochi".
Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Centro de Arte Moderna José Azeredo Perdigão, Lisbon (organizers), Arshile Gorky: Hommage, 2007, ill. in color, p. 53, as "Jardin à Sochi / Garden in Sochi". Traveled to: Centre Culturel Calouste Gulbenkian, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007; Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Paris, April 2–June 4, 2007.
Literature
de Kooning, Elaine. "Gorky: Painter of his Own Legend." Artnews (New York) 49, no. 9 (January 1951), ill. in b/w, p. 40, as "Garden in Sochi".
"Special issue on Gorky in Italian and English with text by Toti Scialoja and excerpts from Schwabacher 1957." Arti Visive 6–7 (Summer 1957), no. 17, ill. in b/w, as "Garden in Sochi".
Coates, Robert M. "The Art Galleries." The New Yorker 33, no. 43 (December 14, 1957), discussed p. 141, as "Garden in Sochi".
Sawin, Martica. "Arshile Gorky." Arts Magazine (New York) 32, no. 3 (December 1957), discussed p. 52, as "Garden in Sochi".
Schwabacher, Ethel. Arshile Gorky. Introduction by Meyer Schapiro. New York: The Macmillan Company for the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1957. Monograph, fig. 26, ill. in b/w, p. 69, as "Garden in Sochi," dated c. 1938–41.
Ashton, Dore. "Lettre de New York." Arts & Architecture (Los Angeles) 75, no. 1 (January 1958), discussed p. 6, as "Garden in Sochi".
Reiff, Robert F. "A Stylistic Analysis of Arshile Gorky's Art from 1943–1948." Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, New York, 1961, fig. 14, ill. in b/w, p. 292, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rosenberg, Harold. Arshile Gorky: The Man, the Time, the Idea. New York: Horizon Press, 1962. Monograph, ill. in b/w, p. 69, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rubin, William. "Arshile Gorky, Surrealism, and the New American Painting." Art International (Paris) 7, no. 2 (February 25, 1963), ill. in b/w, p. 30, as "Garden in Soichi [sic]," dated 1941.
Hoyland, Francis. "The composer." The Listener (London) (April 15, 1965), discussed p. 568, as "Garden in Sochi".
Mullins, Edwin. "Most Important American." Sunday Telegraph (London), April 11, 1965, discussed, as "Garden in Sochi".
Russell, John. "Getting through to Gorky." The Sunday Times (London), April 11, 1965, discussed, as "Garden of Sochi".
Levy, Julien. Arshile Gorky. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1966. Monograph, pl. 79, ill. in color, p. 103, as "Garden in Sochi," dated 1940.
Goldwater, Robert. Space and Dream. New York: Walker and Company, 1967, ill. in b/w, p. 51, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rubin, William S. Dada and Surrealist Art. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1968, fig. 402, ill. in b/w, p. 389, as "Garden in Sochi I".
Geldzahler, Henry. New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970. New York: E.P. Dutton, in association with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969. Exhibition catalogue (1969–70a New York), no. 88, ill. in b/w, p. 156; p. 45, as "Garden in Sochi".
Sandler, Irving H. The Triumph of American Painting: A History of Abstract Expressionism. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970, fig. 3–12, ill. in b/w, p. 54, as "Garden in Sochi II".
Ber., Mar. "Tenere favole viste da Gorky." La Stampa (Turin, Italy), March 7, 1972, discussed, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rathbone, Eliza E. "Arshile Gorky: The Plow and the Song." In American Art at Mid-Century: The Subjects of the Artist. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1978. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 33, ill. in b/w, p. 78, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Montclair, NJ: Allanheld, Osmun & Co. Publishers Inc., and London: George Prior Associated Publishers Ltd., 1981. Monograph, fig. 5–4, ill. in b/w, p. 77, as "Garden in Sochi".
Karp, Diane. "Arshile Gorky: The Language of Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1982, fig. 77, ill. in b/w, p. 245, as "Garden in Sochi".
Jordan, Jim M. "The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: New Discoveries, New Sources, and Chronology." In The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, by Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982, discussed pp. 75–76, 80–81, as "Garden in Sochi".
Jordan, Jim M. "Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings." In The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue, by Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater. New York and London: New York University Press, 1982, no. 247, ill. in b/w, pp. 394–95, as "Garden in Sochi".
Lader, Melvin P. Arshile Gorky. New York: Abbeville Press, 1985. Monograph, fig. 58, ill. in b/w, p. 64, as "Garden in Sochi".
Rand, Harry. Arshile Gorky: The Implication of Symbols. Rev. ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991. Monograph, fig. 5–4, ill. in b/w, p. 84, as "Garden in Sochi".
Herrera, Hayden. Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003, fig. 42, ill. in color, as "Garden in Sochi".
Beredjiklian, Alexandre. Arshile Gorky: sept thèmes majeurs. Suresnes, France: Alphamédian & Johanet; Lisbon: Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, 2007. Monograph, discussed p. 25, as "Jardin à Sotchi".
Cooksey, Chelsea L. "Arshile Gorky: The Abstraction of Symbol, Figure, and Form." M.A. Thesis, Purchase College, State University of New York, 2009, fig. 4, ill. in color, p. 53, as "Garden in Sochi".
Notes
Recto, center left [by Agnes Gorky Phillips]: A Gorky
The canvas was relined.
On loan: Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, 1965–1967.
Commentary
The overall composition is closely related to Gorky's painting Garden in Sochi (P248), dated to 1941 by the artist, and in association with which this painting's title derives. The composition is closely referenced in several further known gouaches and paintings (see related work). According to Agnes "Mougouch" Gorky (1921–2013), the painting's central, boot-shaped form is based on the goatskin and sheepskin butter churns used by Kurdish mountain tribes, and familiar to Gorky from his childhood (for more information on the references embedded in the "Garden in Sochi" series, see commentary for P248).1
Although the title is identified as lifetime in Jim M. Jordan's catalogue raisonné, there is no known extant documentation confirming its origin with the artist and we have therefore designated it as posthumous.2
1. Agnes Gorky Fielding, as quoted in Jim M. Jordan, "Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings," in Jim M. Jordan and Robert Goldwater, The Paintings of Arshile Gorky: A Critical Catalogue (New York and London: New York University Press, 1982), 438.
2. Ibid, 394.
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